Tennessee Titans rookie could have an eye-opening game versus Tampa

The Tennessee Titans 2021 NFL Draft class is coming along very nicely. Caleb Farley is healing well and since he has been able to practice he has shown flashes of why he was such an exciting prospect.

In the trenches, Dillon Radunz and Rashad Weaver played very well in the first preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. Both had a chance to show their versatility and both had several plays where they looked like the most talented player on the field for either team.

The rest of the rookie class has had its ups and downs (in fact you can check out where they rank here), but there is one player who is set for a huge game. That hype train you hear is for 3rd round pick Elijah Molden who could make his NFL debut this weekend.

Why Molden is the Tennessee Titans rookie to watch

Here’s a disclaimer. At the time of this story being written, no one knows whether Molden will play or not on Saturday night, but he’s practiced all week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the assumption is that most of the starters will get the night off since they have had to go through some hot, aggressive, physical practices with the Super Bowl Champs.

During those practices, Molden has been one of the better players and he was the one to shift momentum to the Tennessee Titans defense in the first practice when he picked off Tom Brady.

Molden is physical in the run game and he is willing to do the dirty work, but don’t ignore what he can be as a ballhawk. In his last two seasons, the University of Washington played 17 games, and not only did Molden start in all of those contests but he racked up 19 pass breakups and five interceptions.

He is the perfect player to fill the Tennessee Titans’ need in the slot, but if the defense wants to use the trio of Caleb Farley, Jackrabbit Jenkins, and Kristian Fulton then that doesn’t mean that Molden is out of luck.

Instead, the Titans could use him as an extra safety in dime situations, something that he did in college and a position where Tennessee has had a really hard time staying healthy this offseason.

Tennessee Titans fans should be praying that the coaching staff let Molden get as many snaps as possible on Saturday because he is one eye-opening performance from becoming one of the jewels of this rookie class.

Getting to the season as healthy as possible is the main goal of the Tennessee Titans coaching staff and it should be the same for fans, but selfishly everyone should be crossing their fingers that Molden gets a chance to shine this weekend.